Lawyer Network News

Saskatoon, SK Lawyer News

Saskatoon police officer submits a not guilty plea to obstruction of justice

Posted Nov 20, 2014 on globalnews.ca

Saskatoon defence lawyer Brad Mitchell has submitted a not guilty plea for his client, Const. Steven Nelson, who has been accused of trying to obstruct justice.

Nelson, a member of the Saskatoon Police for nine years, allegedly misplaced a statement made in a case of domestic violence.

It has been said however, that Nelson is not familiar with any person involved in that domestic case, wherein a charge has already been filed.

Mitchell said the charge that his client is facing is a serious one and will severely affect his employment.

With the not guilty plea, Nelson is expected to stand trial for two days in April.

Following the filing of the charge in October, Nelson is on suspension but with pay.

Judge finds military veteran not criminally liable for bomb threat

Posted Nov 19, 2014 on cjme.com

Timothy Steven Harris, a military veteran, was found to have no criminal responsibility in the email that he sent to social workers which stated "there is a bomb in the building."

Following the receipt of the email, the building which houses social services was emptied of employees while police searched for the bomb mentioned in Harris' email. However, they found nothing.

Harris testified that he had mistakenly worded his email. That he thought he wrote "the bomb is in the building," the word bomb in reference to himself and the word building referring to his growing issue with the social services.

The judge believed in the mental defence mounted by Jane Basinski, a defence lawyer in Saskatoon, because Harris is suffering from schizophrenia.

Harris admitted that he had not taken any medication at the time he penned the email.

The veteran sent the email because he got miffed with the social services' non-response to his earlier emails inquiring why he was not reminded of his annual review.

Basinski is asking for an absolute discharge for Harris while the Crown attorney wants conditions set to keep the public safe.

The review board will make a decision after a hearing to be held within a month and a half.

Bouncer gets jail after pleading guilty to aggravated assault

Posted Nov 10, 2014 on www.cbc.ca

It was supposed to be the first day of Scott Russell Denny's trial when he instead submitted a guilty plea to aggravated assault.

Denny, a nightclub bouncer, told the court that he overdid his mauling of Myles MacIntosh a few hours before the latter died.

MacIntosh, who was about to be married, was celebrating the upcoming big event of his life with his friends.

Unfortunately, in the wake of the celebration, he got separated from his friends and ended up at the pub crawl bus being managed by Denny.

The two, who have had a lot to drink, ended fighting each other with Denny giving MacIntosh a very bad beating.

Other people present tried to stop Denny but were not able to.

MacIntosh eventually left the bus, fell into the South Saskatchewan River and drowned.

For his admission, Denny, who was defended by Saskatoon lawyer Brian Pfefferle, was meted with a sentence of two years to be followed by a probation, also of two years.

Denny, however, only has a year remaining to serve after he was given credit for time spent on remand.

Inmate has sentence lengthened to eight years following brawl in prison

Posted Nov 07, 2014 on saskatoon.ctvnews.ca

James Longneck sees his sentence of more than six years in prison for manslaughter lengthened to eight years for his part in a prison brawl for which he submitted a guilty plea to attempted murder.

The incident happened last April which Saskatoon criminal lawyer Brian Pfefferle, defending for Longneck, described as related to gang rivalry.

A surveillance video shows that the fight started when three of the prisoners confronted two of the other inmates and the situation escalated from there.

Pfefferle pointed to the video which shows that his client only got into the fight when he helped one of the accused.

The victim suffered several stab wounds but fortunately, none of them were fatal.

Immigration lawyer says international adoption about to end positively

Posted Nov 04, 2014 on globalnews.ca

Saskatoon immigration lawyer Haidah Amirzadeh said that the four-year ordeal of his clients who have adopted a boy from Pakistan is about to end positively.

Amirzadeh said that the boy's application is about to be processed and soon he will be issued a visa.

Four years ago, Amirzadeh's clients, Waheeda and Ashfaq Afridi, had decided to adopt a boy from Pakistan.

Waheeda went to Pakistan to get the boy and bring him back to Saskatoon.

Instead, she got stuck in Pakistan after problems with the adoption arose with regards to the policy of the provincial and federal governments of Canada.

But with the development, Ashfaq, who had stayed in Canada, will finally be able to see his wife along with their adopted son.

Saskatchewan Lawyer News

Judge to hand decision on fatal hit and run February yet

Robert Duane Barisoff will have to wait a little longer to know how much time he will be spending in jail after he submitted a guilty plea to offences resulting to Kelton Desnomie's death.

The judge had decided to reserve his decision for February after hearing sentencing submissions of both the Crown and the defence.

Court heard that Barisoff was driving a jeep when he fatally hit an intoxicated Desnomie.

He stopped and someone went down to check on Desnomie. However, Barisoff drove off without checking or assisting the victim despite the protest of his companion.

Even though he left, Barisoff still surrendered and confessed to the police on the same day.

Barisoff was not drunk nor speeding but the Crown is asking that he be jailed for about a year and be banned from driving for two years because he had left the scene without any concern for Desnomie, who was 18 at the time of his death.

Regina lawyer Jeremy Ellergodt, Barisoff's defence counsel, said that his client had panicked which was why he left but he still regretted what he did.

The lawyer added that Barisoff only deserves a three-month jail stay and a driving ban of one year citing his client's surrender and confession.

Passport cancellation for any Canadian proven to have joined extremist groups

Posted Sep 20, 2014 on ottawacitizen.com

Several Canadians have had their passports invalidated by Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) after it was proven that they have gone to Syria, Iraq and other volatile areas to join extremists groups.

This was confirmed by Chris Alexander, the minister for Citizenship and Immigration, who added that Canadians, who are still in the country but are proven to have intentions of travelling abroad to fight for extremist groups, will also get their passports cancelled.

The move is part of Canada and its allies' plans to hamper the international operations of extremist groups such as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).

With a revoked passport, Canadians fighting for extremist groups will be stuck in either Syria or Iraq as they will no longer be allowed to travel back to Canada. They could also not go anywhere else without a passport.

Although Canada may not be a major source of foreign fighters for extremist groups, the Canadian government has given the concern priority, with the RCMP and the Canadian Security Intelligence Service heading the matter.

The CIC, to which Passport Canada belongs, has been active in the operation by cancelling the passports but only after they received solid evidence.

Alexander said that the department can do so based on a regulation that allows an official to invalidate the passport of a Canadian if there is proof that their intention of travelling abroad is to participate in a criminal act.

A new citizenship law also gave the government authority to cancel the passports of dual citizens following a terrorism conviction.

This is well and good as aside from ensuring the country's security, the government is also making sure that Canada's name will not be tainted by the acts of these people.

Appeals Court lowers sentence for sexual assault convict

Posted Sep 12, 2014 on www.leaderpost.com

Konrad D. Dyck successfully appealed his 10-year sentence for admitting to aggravated sexual assault after the Appeals Court decided to lower it to a little more than five years.

Dyck was originally sentenced to nine years for brutally and humiliatingly raping a woman, who was 20 years old at the time the incident happened in 2011. And, another year for evading arrest and crashing his vehicle in the process.

He was left with eight years and a half to serve after the judge credited him for time served in custody.

However, the Appeals judge found the nine-year sentence for aggravated assault unfitting and lowered it to six years.

Although the one year for fleeing police was retained, after the credited time served, Dyck only has five years and one month to serve.

Canada Lawyer News

Defence lawyer worries about client's sentence delay

Calgary lawyer Tonii Roulston, who is representing Glen Gieschen, is worried that her client's health will further deteriorate now that his sentencing have been delayed.

Gieschen, 45, had submitted a guilty plea to weapons charges in connection to his plan to launch an attack against the office of the Veterans Affairs.

Roulston's client used to work in the intelligence department of the Canadian military.

He is upset with the Veterans Affairs because of the coverage he was given for the disease of multiple sclerosis which he believed he contracted when he was given a flu injection while he was still with the military.

The Crown asked to delay the sentencing, which the judge approved, because it wanted more time to go over Gieschen's psychiatric report.

Roulston said that Gieschen had been looking forward to his sentencing because he wanted to be done with the whole thing.

Gieschen has shown remorse over the incident and is ready for whatever castigation that he may get for the conviction.

Man awaiting trial for toddler's death gets roughed up

Posted Jan 23, 2015 on edmonton.ctvnews.ca

Richard Suter, who will stand trial for the death of a two-year-old boy, has allegedly been taken forcibly from his home and mauled, according Dino Bottos, a lawyer in Edmonton.

Bottos, who will be defending for Suter, said that his client suffered serious injuries although none of them were life threatening.

There were reports that the men who took Suter claimed to be undercover cops.

Suter is set to stand trial later this year for impaired driving causing death and several counts of impaired driving causing bodily harm. He has also been charged for refusing to provide a sample of his breath.

The charges stem from an incident in May 2013 when Suter crashed his car into the patio of a restaurant wherein the family of two-year-old Geo Mounsef were dining.

Mounsef succumbed to the injuries he sustained while the rest of his family survived.

This is not the first time that Suter's family had been attacked following the incident. His wife was also assaulted by a man who was wearing a balaclava.

Lawyer delays trial, wants publication ban in place

Posted Nov 27, 2014 on ottawacitizen.com

Stephen Bird, a lawyer in Ottawa representing the Royal Ottawa Health Care Group, has called for a halt in an ongoing trial as he seeks for a publication ban.

The Ottawa hospital has been charged for violating the Ontario Occupational Health and Safety Act.

The charges stemmed from an incident in July of 2012 wherein a patient inflicted injury on two nurses by choking one and throwing the other against a steel frame of a door.

Bird wants the publication ban to be in place when the trial continues in the middle of December.

The lawyer cited an article that was published about the July incident which he said could mar the testimonies of those who will be standing as witnesses to the hearing.

Man admits to aggravated assault

Posted Nov 19, 2014 on cjme.com

Danton Cole McKay will be spending two years in jail less a day after submitting a guilty plea to aggravated assault.

McKay had admitted to stabbing a man several times after he saw him fighting with his sister. Court also heard that he was drunk during the incident.

McKay was able to plead guilty to a lesser charge because the stab wounds he inflicted on the victim were superficial, said Stinson.

The lawyer added that the victim also did not want to have anything to do with the case.

Lawyer says if insurance can avoid paying, they will not pay

Posted Nov 19, 2014 on www.thestarphoenix.com

Kenneth Noble, a lawyer in Regina who specializes in insurance claims, said that if insurance companies could find a way to avoid paying a claim, they will not pay.

Noble spoke in connection with the case of the couple from Saskatchewan, Jennifer Huculak-Kimmel and Darren, who was charged with almost a million by a hospital in Hawaii where Jennifer had to prematurely give birth to their child while on vacation.

Jennifer was six months pregnant when she and Darren decided to take a trip to Hawaii. They signed up with Saskatchewan Blue Cross for their travel insurance but now the firm is refusing to pay their bill claiming she had pre-existing conditions.

Noble said the couple's case is the biggest so far that he has heard of.

According to the lawyer, aside from checking the authenticity of a claim, insurance firms also thoroughly evaluate a claim to check if there are ways for them to avoid paying the claim.

Noble added that in this case, the couple could get a lawyer who can investigate the claim then give the results to the insurance company.

If no deal is met, parties can exhaust all legal steps available with the final step being bringing the matter before the court.